Former 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorses Joe Biden
Sen. Elizabeth Warren is one of the last candidates to offer her endorsement.
Former 2020 candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren endorsed Joe Biden for president Wednesday morning with a video posted to social media.
"In this moment of crisis, it's more important than ever that the next president restores Americans' faith in good, effective government — and I've seen Joe Biden help our nation rebuild. Today, I'm proud to endorse Joe Biden as President of the United States," Warren tweeted, along with a nearly four-minute video filmed from her house in Boston, Mass. -- the same place she announced the suspension of her campaign about six weeks ago.
Warren, who suspended her campaign in early March, was the last remaining top-tier woman candidate in the race. Her support for Biden comes on the heels of endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders, who suspended his 2020 campaign last week, and former President Barack Obama, who broke his relative silence with a 12-minute video in support of Biden on Tuesday.
Warren's name has been thrown around for Biden's list of potential vice presidential candidates in recent weeks, particularly as he made it clear that he would pick a woman -- a decision Warren commended.
Though Warren has signaled her support for Biden for several weeks, she was one of the few Democratic 2020 candidates yet to endorse Biden, who netted support from Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, California Sen. Kamala Harris, entrepreneur Andrew Yang, former New York City Mike Bloomberg and New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, among other 2020 contenders.
In recent weeks, Warren dodged the question of endorsements -- particularly while fellow progressive Sanders was still in the race -- instead focusing on the consuming task of legislating during the coronavirus pandemic. After Sanders dropped, Warren offered praise for Biden in interviews and many of her supporters notably coalesced around Biden. The former co-chairs of her campaign, New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland and California Rep. Katie Porter, gave Biden their support last week.
Biden has also made clear policy overtures in recent weeks, endorsing several of Warren's plans and praising her work on coronavirus response measures.
In the 3 minute 45 second video, Warren laid out her theory of the case for her endorsement, praising her one-time rival’s empathy and integrity, the past crises for which Biden has shown up and tragedies he’s faced “with fortitude and grace.”
“I’ve seen the vice president help a community heal,” Warren said in her video, pointing to when then-vice president Biden visited the Boston bombing’s one-year anniversary. “I’ve seen Joe Biden help a nation rebuild,” she said, noting his role in the 2009 Recovery Act.
Warren’s endorsement offered consistent messages to the progressive wing of the party, who moderate Democrats fear Biden needs to work to pull in to beat Trump in November. His recent shifts leftward have proved strong overtures to those he now will try to woo - and their former candidates: Biden announced his support of several progressive policies in recent weeks, including some of Warren’s key platform points.
Biden's adoption of Warren's plan marked a massive change for the former Delaware senator, as it would undo much of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 -- a measure the two have locked horns over for the better part of two decades. It provided a clear roadmap to how she might find her way to supporting him.
Warren did not hesitate in her endorsement to point out the times she’s been able to move his needle.
“[Biden] has shown throughout this campaign that when you come up with new facts or a good argument, he’s not too afraid or too proud to be persuaded,” Warren said, going back to the very roots of their relationship: the bankruptcy bill.
“Joe Biden was there at the very moment I became a Senator -- he swore me in. And when he did, he said 'you gave me hell! And you’re gonna do a great job.' Because that’s the thing about Joe: he wants you in the fight with him. And when you’re in the fight with Joe at your side, you know you have a partner who’s committed to getting something good done for this country," she said in the video.
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